Super Bowl XXXVII

2 super tickets exceed dreams

An anonymous donor provides free Super Bowl tickets for two young Bucs fans who have undergone chemotherapy.

By DONNA WINCHESTER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 22, 2003

ST. PETERSBURG -- Dan DiCicco thought life couldn't get any better Sunday night after his Bucs won the National Football Conference championship. Then his cell phone rang.

The 19-year-old's mom called with this message: He and his best friend were going to the Super Bowl.

Their good fortune came courtesy of the Children's Dream Fund, a nonprofit organization that grants wishes to young people with life-threatening illnesses, and a Bucs fan who wanted to offer two deserving kids the chance of a lifetime.

The fan, who wishes to remain anonymous, called the Dream Fund last week and told coordinator Joanne Lanning that he had two tickets to donate. Lanning scanned her list and realized no one had requested a Super Bowl dream. Then she remembered two former dream recipients: DiCicco and Guy Rabich. She knew that the two young men, both former Dixie Hollins High School football players, would jump at a chance to go to the Super Bowl.

As soon as the Bucs won Sunday night, Lanning called DiCicco's mother. She called her son. He called Rabich. Immediately, they undertook an Internet search for airline tickets and accommodations in San Diego.

Rabich, 20, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in August 2000, is nearing the end of chemotherapy treatments. He thought DiCicco was kidding.

"I had a gut feeling the Bucs were going to go, but I had no clue that I was going to go," Rabich said Tuesday.

DiCicco, who attends the University of South Florida and plans to try out for the football team, underwent chemotherapy and surgery for Hodgkin's disease last year.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go to the Super Bowl," said DiCicco, who turned down a friend's offer of $1,500 for each ticket. "It's even better when your favorite team is in it."